Wallowing in luxuries: NAB arrests ex-DG Parks

KARACHI: In an startling development in the fake bank accounts case, officials of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Thursday acquired three-day transit remand of Liaquat Ali Khan Qaimkhani, ex Director General (DG) Parks and Horticulture, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, in the Bagh-e-Ibne Qasim scam. Qaimkhani was held by the anti graft body on Wednesday.

Qaimkhani is accused of awarding fake contracts as DG Parks in the metropolis as well as illegally allotting a plot from land meant for a park in Clifton. He is also considered to be acting as a ‘frontman’ of an important political leader.

Qaimkhani, an adviser to Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar, currently embroiled in the NAB’s fake accounts case, was living in an opulent, palatial residence — worth millions in PECHS with sprawling lawns and a swimming pool. His bathroom alone was spread over two marlas. Among valuables recovered from the former DG Parks’ house were eight imported luxury cars including Landcruisers and Mercedes, gold bangles and necklaces, diamond jewellery, weapons, two 4x6 lockers and files of millions of rupees worth properties in Lahore and Karachi. His shirt had golden buttons and cuff links.

Pleading innocence, the former DG Parks, Qaimkhani said all the drama was false and staged, and that he will prove all the allegations wrong in the court of law. He said that he has a family and the family shares all the properties, and nothing has been gotten illegally.